About The Artist

Hello! I am a fine arts painter, with a BFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. My primary painting medium is oil and alkyd, and mostly I work in a representational style. My greatest challenge as a painter is to capture the effect of light; and my greatest joy as a painter is to accomplish that. Many thanks to those readers who have been following this blog since Day 1 (May 19, 2008). To those who are visiting for the first time today...Welcome, and thanks for dropping by!

Inspired by a New Mexico sunset, I subtitled the painting Eye Dazzler which refers to colorful rug designs Navajo artisans began weaving in the 1870's. The Navajo Eye Dazzler style incorporates bright colors and zigzag designs. This phase in the history of Navajo weaving is also called "Germantown", referring to the colorful synthetic dyes and yarns that came from a commercial mill in Germantown, Pennsylvania, at that time.

For me, the exciting part of working on these Sunset Series paintings is combining colors I ordinarily don't use, such as the bright turquoise, magenta, and oranges. These colors definitely have a vibration, and, in this long format, remind me of a rug, too.

Thursday, May 26, 2011

I have been distracted this week. My mother and I have been glued to the television, watching the aftermath of the tornado that hit Joplin, Missouri, last weekend. As many of you know, my mother is from that area, and we have family and dear friends in Joplin. Fortunately, our loved ones and friends have survived; and I am grateful to all who contacted me about their well being: Thank you.

Yesterday, I worked in the studio to complete this painting from the Sunset Strip Series. While working on the painting, I was thinking about Joplin, childhood visits with Joplin relatives in the summer, the many good people who became—and have remained—my friends, colleagues, and supporters when I lived in the area a few years ago, and how much genuine pride Joplin folks have for their town.

I was inspired to dedicate this Sunset Strip painting to Joplin's recovery with the title, Ray of Hope. It's #7, a lucky number, and bears my good wishes for Joplin's renewal.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

I intended to have this painting ready for Mother's Day...and the first "version" of it was done by then. But then I was not happy with it, and kept on painting. Here's the final version (I think), along with photos of my framing process, which I mentioned in last week's post.

Photo 1 shows the finished painting on panel. What you can't see is that image extends around the edges of the panel, too. The best way to display a painting on panel in this state is on a decorative tabletop-style easel, since there is no way to securely attach any hanging mechanism for wall display. The nice thing about this display method is that the painting can be moved around, and placed on a side table, a book shelf, a dresser or other flat surface.

Photo 2 shows the 1/2"x3/4" strips that I have cut and glued along the edges to the backside of the painting panel. You can also see a screw eye on each side for attaching a wire.

Photo 3 is a corner view of the painting with the strips glued on. The wood strips are painted black for a more finished look. In this state, the painting can now be displayed on the wall, too— no frame necessary and ideal if you prefer a more contemporary look.

With the wood strips glued to the panel, the painting is also ready for mounting in a canvas floater frame. This style of frame is my favorite, since it allows the entire painting to be viewed right to the edges. Having a little space between the painting and the front face of the frame actually expands the painting's image, allowing it to "breathe." I think this is especially important for smaller paintings, where any cropping of the painting with traditional framing seems to make the image appear even smaller.

The nice thing about canvas floater frames is that they come in ready-to-frame sizes (I use the Illusions brand.) and in custom lengths for nonstandard sized framing for the do-it-yourselfer. I did use Rub-N-Buff to get the gold color on the face, since the 8x6 only comes in flat black finish.

Photo 4 shows the back of the painting, with the floater frame attached to the panel's strips. The bottom image is the painting, framed and ready to hang on the wall.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Last week we enjoyed an afternoon shower, which made for lovely, dramatic clouds at sunset here in Florida. I grabbed my new Nikon CoolPix digital camera (a Christmas gift from my daughter and son-in-law: Thanks again, M&M!) and ran out the door to make several photos of the changing light and cloud forms. So far, I've gotten four new Sunset Strip paintings from that one evening of picture-taking. Nice!

These Sunset Strip paintings have prompted me to look for materials that provide a long skinny format. Mostly I've been painting on odd lengths of wood on hand, that I trim, sand, and prepare with gesso.

However, at the art store the other day, I came across a 12" x 4" birch panel that is ideal, and bought all they had. To the backside of the birch panel, I glue 3/4 x 1/2 inch wood strips around the perimeter, so that the panel will sit flat against the wall and a wire can be attached. I paint the edges of the painting and the wood strips for a finished look. No framing is necessary, but is still possible if the buyer would like to frame the painting. On one of my next blog posts I'll share some photos of how this all works.